Film Lady goes back to the closet to confront BoogeyMum (a hot one, at least!). If Jessica Chastain asks to go into your heart, who are we to say ‘No’? From Josh Malerman’s 2024 novel Incidents Around the House to Rob Savage’s 2026 film Other Mommy, Film Lady weighs her options and leaves the closet door unlocked. Two mommies are better than one, after all. #mommyissues

Content warning: a child in danger, supernatural horror and possession, a manipulative entity targeting a child, bloody violence and body horror, death of a family member, infidelity, marital conflict, a child in danger in water, séance/exorcism, and strong language.

Spoiler warning: detailed discussion and analysis of the book & movie! All the twists revealed!

Cold Open & Warm Close: p.6 & p.230 respectively from Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman | Goodreads

Pod Rec: Read Rant Review

JM’s website: Josh Malerman

JC on her creepy smile: Jessica Chastain Teaches Jimmy Kimmel How to Do the Other Mommy Creepy Smile

Books:

Other novels by JM:

Daphne (2022)

Unbury Carol (2018)

Inspection (2019)

Pictures of You (2026)

Bird Box (2014)

Coraline (2002), a fantasy horror children's novella by Neil Gaiman

Room (2010) by Emma Donoghue - told from a child’s perspective

The Boogeyman: Stephen King’s short story from Nightshift (1978)

Associations - movies:

Dead Silence (2007) - poster looks like JC

Boogeyman (2023)

Backrooms (2026) - when OM has too many fingers, like AI

The Good Boy (2025), a Shudder film Good Boy (2025) - IMDb

Bird Box (2018)

A Quiet Place (2018)

IT (2017)

The Babadook (2014)

Mentions:

What We Do in the Shadows (TV show)

Carrie (2026) - new TV SHOW

Music - Free Music Archive - CC BY License:

• Soularflair - SUBSCARA (soundtrack, eerie, spooky)

• Kirk Osamayo - Spooky

• Lenny Pixels - Soft Spooky Spectacle

• The Top One Percent - Spooky

Find me: @filmladyroyal on Letterboxd, Bluesky & Instagram.

Email: kinoroyalepodcast@gmail.com

All eps & more on website: kinoroyale.net

Equipment:

JBL Quantum Stream Studio | Quad pattern premium USB microphone for streaming, recording and gaming

Audacity - recording & editing by FL

Links:

Josh Malerman - Wikipedia

Other Mommy - Wikipedia

Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to acknowledge that I live, work, and learn on the traditional lands of the Dharug and Darkinjung peoples. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.

Join Film Lady for a working retreat at the Crawford house in Vermont, where the coffee is strong, the husband is grieving (but hot), and the bestselling author upstairs hasn't moved or spoken in months. Supposedly.

From Colleen Hoover's sensational 2018 thriller to the 2026 big-screen adaptation, Film Lady pulls up an ergonomic chair at Verity's desk and reads the one manuscript that should have stayed in the drawer.

Darkness ahead. You’ve been warned!

Content warning: violence, death, suffocation, strangulation, child death, car accident, serious injury, child abuse & endangerment, a parent intending harm to their children, attempts to self-induce miscarriage, pregnancy, sex scenes, infidelity, obsession, possessiveness, psychological manipulation, emotional abuse, grief, mental illness, gaslighting, deception, unreliable narration, strong language.

Spoiler warning: detailed discussion and analysis of the book & movie! All the twists revealed!

Cold Open & Warm Close: p.61-62 & p.304 respectively from the novel: Verity by Colleen Hoover | Goodreads

Pod rec: Read Rant Review

Madwoman in the attic book

Mentioned: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover | Goodreads

Associations:

Housemaid (2025)

Rebecca, Jane Eyre, other gothic novels & their various screen adaptations

50 Shades of Grey (2015)

Gone Girl (2014)

Titane (2021)

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Music - Free Music Archive - CC BY License:

• Alex Morgan - Dark Suspense Thriller Underscore

• Alex Morgan - Scary Soundscape for Suspense Podcasts

• Tommaso Motteran - Horror Chase Music - Dark Orchestral Suspense

• TRAMOS - Suspense Theme - TRAMOS.mp3

Find me: @filmladyroyal on Letterboxd, Bluesky & Instagram

Email: kinoroyalepodcast@gmail.com

All eps & more on website: kinoroyale.net

Last chance to vote for November theme - on socials, email or under ep on Spotify (ep 22)

Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to acknowledge that I live, work, and learn on the traditional lands of the Dharug and Darkinjung peoples. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.

Join Film Lady for a quiet night at the Bates Motel, where there are twelve cabins, twelve vacancies, and one devoted son who simply adores his mother. From Robert Bloch's pulpy 1959 novel to Hitchcock's 1960 masterpiece, Film Lady takes a long, hot shower in the story that made the whole world afraid of bathrooms. A boy's best friend is his mother, after all.

Content warning: murder, blood, human remains, mental illness (stigmatizing portrayal), voyeurism, parental abuse, matricide, alcoholism (novel), dated attitudes toward gender identity.

Spoiler warning: detailed discussion and analysis of the book & movie!

Mentioned: Ace of Base – The Sign Lyrics

Cold Open: p. 129 from Robert Bloch’s novel, Psycho

Psycho on Goodreads: Psycho #1 - Robert Bloch

Madwoman in the attic book

What Went Wrong podcast, search an episode on Psycho: What Went Wrong Podcast

Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities by Flora Rheta Schreiber | Goodreads

Associations:

Mother and Son (TV Series 1984–1994) - IMDb

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Les Diaboliques (1955)

The Haunting of Hill House TV show (2018)

Music - Free Music Archive - CC BY License:

• Water Sark - Half Crazy

• Gagmesharkoff - Wild and Crazy Kids

• Damiano Baldoni - I'm CrAZy

• Squire Tuck - Jumping Madly (Going Crazy Too)

Find me: @filmladyroyal on Letterboxd, Bluesky & Instagram.

Email: kinoroyalepodcast@gmail.com

All eps & more on website: kinoroyale.net

Don’t forget to vote for November theme - on socials or under the previous ep on Spotify (ep 22)

Question to listeners: Offered $2m, who would you rather spend a night in a motel room: Patrick Bateman, Winnifred Notty or Norman Bates? And why?

Equipment:

JBL Quantum Stream Studio | Quad pattern premium USB microphone for streaming, recording and gaming

Audacity - recording & editing by FL

Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to acknowledge that I live, work, and learn on the traditional lands of the Dharug and Darkinjung peoples. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.

‘I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?’ How does Pat Bateman appear on the big screen compared to the original novel? Join Film Lady in analysing the horror-comedy adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel - a 2000 movie by Mary Harron, American Psycho.

Content Warning: like all of my eps, this is an explicit episode which is targeted at adults. It is labelled accordingly on your pod platforms with *E* symbol. Please go through the triggers below before jumping in! Also, this ep is also full of spoilers for the movie.

Trigger Warning for the movie & this ep: graphic violence/gore, sexual content, nudity, disturbing/psychological content, violence against women, animal cruelty, drug use, body horror.

Cold open: Huey Lewis & The News – Hip To Be Square Lyrics

Warm close: Genesis – In Too Deep Lyrics

American Psycho (film) - Wikipedia

Movies:

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Music - Free Music Archive - CC BY License:

• Alex Morgan - Funny Background Music With Playful Major Tune

• Alex Morgan - Funny Quirky Comedy Short Sting

• Lobo Loco - Funny Twitching (ID 2333)

• ROZKOL - Funny Looker

• Pierce Murphy - This Dream I Had

• Josh Woodward - Crazy Glue (Instrumental Version)

Find me: @filmladyroyal on Letterboxd, Bluesky & Instagram.

Email: kinoroyalepodcast@gmail.com

All eps & more on website: kinoroyale.net

Help me decide on the November theme - cast your vote on socials or in the Spotify poll under episode #22. Voting closes October 6th, 2026.

Equipment:

JBL Quantum Stream Studio | Quad pattern premium USB microphone for streaming, recording and gaming

Audacity - recording & editing by FL

Previous ep - #23: American Psycho, 1991 novel

Next ep - #25 (bookclub): Victorian Psycho, 2026 novel

Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to acknowledge that I live, work, and learn on the traditional lands of the Dharug and Darkinjung peoples. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.

Let's celebrate Fathers Day 2026 (in Australia) by looking at some Psycho Daddies together! Who doesn't have #daddyissues, right? Not Film Lady, surely…XD

Content Warning: like all of my eps, this is an explicit episode which is targeted at adults. It is labelled accordingly on your pod platforms with *E* symbol. Please go through the triggers below before jumping in!

Potential Triggers: mentions of suicide, sexual assault, domestic abuse, incest

Cold Open: psycho killer song: Talking Heads – Psycho Killer Lyrics

Warm Close: Daddy by PSY, translated to English: DADDY (English Translation) – PSY ft. CL | Genius Lyrics

Letterboxd list: https://letterboxd.com/filmladyroyal/list/psycho-daddies-in-horror-or-happy-fathers/

Music - via Free Music Archive — CC BY:

• VADE - Tone Down House - 4_4_25, 3.47 AM

• JMHBM - Little Looney

• Ethos - Forever Ending

Find me: @filmladyroyal on Letterboxd, Bluesky & Instagram.

Email: kinoroyalepodcast@gmail.com

Extended show notes & more on the website: Kino Royale

Movie blog: The Cinefile Blog

Equipment:

JBL Quantum Stream Studio | Quad pattern premium USB microphone for streaming, recording and gaming

Audacity - recording & editing - free!

Seed Talks

The Shining ‘Here’s Johny!’ scene: The Shining (1980) - Here's Johnny! Scene (7/7) | Movieclips

Acknowledgement of Country

I would like to acknowledge that I live, work, and learn on the traditional lands of the Dharug and Darkinjung peoples. I pay my respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today.

Help Film Lady decide on November’s theme! The November poll starts on 5 September and finishes on 6 October. Vote below this episode on or on socials, or email me your vote.